Citation

Bloom M, Horgan J. Soc. Res. 2008; 75(2): 579-614.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, New School for Social Research)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

This article discusses a suicide car bombing campaign organized by the Irish Republican Army in 1990 to frame the concept of martyrdom and self-sacrifice in suicide bombing. The relationship between terrorism and public opinion is considered, and the conscious framing of martyrdom as a cultural phenomenon is noted. The difference between suicide bombers, who seek martyrdom of their own volition, and proxy bombers, who are coerced into action by the threat of violence against their families, is described. The coercion of bombers is presented as an event that is more common that many observers realize. The possibility that the proxy bombing tactic was developed to sow dissent within the Catholic communities upon which the IRA depended is considered.